Hey Bartender, Love me (book 2)

Chapter 5

"Lukey, Babydoll, Love of my Life, I swear it'll be all right."

"Yeah, I know," Luke sighed.

It had been about 3 weeks since the break-in at Harry's apartment. Luke couldn't shake the feeling that something was off about it, specifically the cameras. Harry had never had cameras in his apartment building before, and Luke didn't want to think about it, but it was the same kind of camera Michael had put up when he was spying on Luke at their apartment. He knew it was, because he'd spent hours locked in his bedroom, too anxious to do anything other than stare at it. He knew exactly what it looked like; black with a blinking red dot in the front and the words "CCD camera" written in white on the side.

"Luke did something happen? You've not been yourself recently," Ashton had been making himself a sandwich for dinner, but when he saw how distressed Luke was, he crossed the room and held him in his arms. "I'm here if you need to talk, Sweetheart. But I promise, going out with your friends by yourself won't be bad. You'll have fun, I know you will."

Luke's therapist had told him he needed to spend time without Ashton on occasion. She'd said his relationship wasn't a bad thing, but it also couldn't be the only thing. He needed other people to help him, because Ashton couldn't always be there for him. He shouldn't have to be, it wasn't fair to Ashton, Caity told him. He knew she was right; a support system cannot be only one person for so long.

"No, nothings wrong. Just feel anxious."

"Any particular reason?" Ashton looked into his eyes.

He shrugged, unable to speak the words. He knew he was being crazy, there was no way that it was anything but a coincidence.

It made him so uncomfortable that it was the same camera and no one knew about it. Everyone just assumed someone else had installed the camera to deter people from breaking in, but no one knew who, and clearly that didn't work. The camera also wasn't connected to anything, it was just a decoy.

Luke couldn't accept that excuse, so he'd called the police to make sure Michael hadn't escaped. He hadn't, the police insisted he was there and legally they couldn't lie to him. That made him feel a bit better, so he tried to shake off his unease, but it was difficult as things still weren't adding up.

"Well, then maybe try and relax, take a few deep breaths, and then I'll help you pick out an outfit, yeah?" His boyfriend suggested.

"Yeah, yeah that would help." Luke closed his eyes and took some deep breaths, matching Ashton's steady chest rising and falling. "Okay. I'm good now." Luke cleared his thoughts, his paranoia disappearing for a few moments.

"Good. Come on Cupcake, let's go make you look handsome."

After Luke played dress up, he settled on black jeans with a black tank underneath a white and black striped jacket. For an added touch, he tied a white kerchief around his neck and wore a couple long necklaces.

"You look so hot, babe," Ashton stood in front of him, adjusting his outfit as his eyes flitted all over his boyfriend. "Seriously, you lookin' fine," he emphasized the word, making it sound more like "foine", drawing out the syllables.

"Thanks," Luke blushed, pushing his hands through his curls. He stepped away and looked in the full length mirror that stood in the corner of their bedroom. Even he couldn't find an unflattering angle to hate on. He had to admit, he looked good.

Even though they were only going to the diner, he wanted to look nice. If he dressed up, he'd feel good, and if he felt good, maybe he wouldn't be so anxious.

"Have fun tonight, okay? I know this is new, but Calum will be there and so will Harry. They know how to help you if anything goes wrong,"

"I know," Luke nodded. Calum had been a big help to him over the year, and Harry had been there right at his side. "Niall and Louis will be going too, so there's more than enough people around."